Hello, everyone, and welcome to Amherst College. My name is Alexandre Jabor and I will be one of your
three tour guides today. I am an international student from Sao Paulo Brazil and a sophomore.
I'm a law, jurisprudence and social thought major with a potential double major in economics.
Amherst College is a small liberal arts college with around 1,800 students located in Amherst,
Massachusetts, a beautiful part of New England.
Hello, my name is Clara Page. I'm a sophomore at Amherst College, originally from San Diego,
California. I'm majoring in statistics and data sciences as well as economics. I'm coming to
you from the first-year quad which is in many ways the heart of campus. It certainly will be
during your first year because all first-year students live in dorms that surround this quad.
This is a really wonderful tradition that brings first-years together.
For many people these are an incredibly treasured memory. I know they are for me and they're also
a way I found some of my closest friends here at the College. You can also see Johnson Chapel
which is one of our oldest buildings. It's where we host big speakers, important events, and convocation,
the event that begins every school year. On the other side of the quad is Frost Library, one of
our popular study spaces. What I really like about studying in Frost is that each floor
has its own personality. You can always find a spot to study quietly by yourself or with a large group.
While we're talking about Frost Library we should also mention the Five College Consortium.
Not only do we share books, we share class listings and other things with four other colleges in the
western Massachusetts area. Those are Smith and Mount Holyoke College, both women's institutions.
Hampshire College, which is known for alternative learning environments,
and UMass which is the flagship campus of the University of Massachusetts.
We're now on the Val Quad named for the Valentine dining hall which is an
important community space on campus. This is a residential college meaning that you'll have
to pass through our dining hall two or maybe even three times a day to get food.
I have a lot of dietary restrictions and Val has always been able to accommodate that. They also
have lots of fresh produce from our campus farm, Book and Plow. Every time you walk into Val you're
going to see someone you know because everyone has to pass through two or three times a day.
A unique Amherst tradition is Val-sitting. You go early, stay for hours studying, eating snacks,
and seeing friends as they pass through. On the quad itself we host an event called Fall Fest.
Fall Fest is a super fun way to celebrate the changing of the seasons which is extraordinarily
beautiful especially in western Massachusetts. Right near Val is the Arms Music Center. You might
go there to hear an orchestra perform, to listen to a jazz band, or even just to take a class in music.
On the other side of Val is Fayerweather Hall, our main fine arts building which hosts spaces for
sketching, painting, sculpture and other mediums. Finally, Chapin Hall, one of my favorite spaces on
campus. I had my first-year seminar there and I'm currently taking a religion class in the building.
Chapin will always have a really fun place in my heart since it's where the debate team meets
and debate is a really big part of my life on campus. Hi everyone. My name is Lauren. I'm
currently a senior here at Amherst College. I'm double majoring in American studies and law,
jurisprudence and social thought, and I'm from Connecticut. This is the Keefe Campus Center.
This is a lively space where students pick up their mail, visit the resource centers, or stop
by Schwem's Cafe for grab-and-go lunch or late night snacks. On the weekend, student clubs show
films in the movie theater, and in the entryway, you'll see tons of flyers promoting the different
events happening each week on campus. The resource centers have physical spaces where students can
hang out, and there are professional staff who work in the centers. We have the Women's and Gender
Center, the Queer Resource Center, the Multicultural Resource Center supporting students of color ,the
Center for International Student Engagement, and the Center for Diversity and Student Leadership
which supports first-generation, low-income DACA and undocumented transfer and veteran
students. All of these resource centers plan and host different programs throughout the semester.
Keefe Campus Center also has our Global Education Office. About 40 percent of Amherst College
students go abroad. I studied abroad last fall at University College London and had an amazing
experience. The Global Education Office was very helpful throughout the whole process. Behind Keefe
Campus Center is the Powerhouse, our student-run event space. Student groups and clubs can reserve
a space in the Powerhouse and have held events ranging from yoga to dance nights. There are a lot
of clubs that you can get involved with at Amherst, whether you're interested in academic clubs,
political clubs, community service, the arts, theater, music, affinity groups, or you can create your own.
Welcome to Beneski. It houses the Beneski Natural History Museum and the department of geology and
environmental studies. The Beneski Museum has over 1,700 specimens on display and over two hundred thousand in
collections including one of the largest dinosaur footprint collections in the world. Beneski is
also home to a Colombian mammoth named Bebu. It was discovered in 1925 by an Amherst professor,
Frederick Loomis. Many of the museum specimens were found on digs by professors and students.
As an undergraduate institution, you can start doing research as early as your first semester
on campus and professors are always looking for research assistants. Amherst has programs like
SURF, the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship that's geared towards first-years and sophomores.
At SURF, students spend 10 weeks working on-campus with a professor in the natural
sciences on research. Research at Amherst isn't restricted only to the natural sciences.
This semester I'm working as a research assistant in the political science department investigating
the evolution of populism in Latin America and it's been an incredible learning experience so far.
Welcome to the Science Center. Our Science Center is an incredible building and one of the most
energy efficient large science buildings in the country. Student input, academics, and sustainability
are at the heart of its design. As you can see many of the classrooms and labs have glass walls.
Not only does this make the space more inviting and open by maximizing natural light
but it was also a result of student and professor input during the design process.
The Science Center has 47 research labs, 25 teaching labs, classrooms, offices, our
science library, a great cafe, and the Moss Quantitative Center. The Moss Quantitative
Center is staffed by fellows and associates who work with students on mathematical problem sets
and homework assignments. The Science Center has really become a hub for the entire campus,
not just STEM, and a favorite study spot for all students. One of my favorite features of
the Science Center that really highlights its green focus are the curtains and blinds
throughout the building. They actually rely on sensors and are automatically raised and lowered
to regulate temperature inside of the Science center. The science center sustainable design is
part of Amherst's plan to be carbon neutral by 2030 and transform campus in the process.
Right now we are at the Greenway Residence Halls, the newest and most sustainable residence halls
on campus. There are four Greenway buildings with a courtyard and half basketball courts
and a volleyball court outside. Ninety percent of Amherst college students live on campus
and housing is guaranteed all four years you're here. As a first-year, you're all together
on the first-year quad, but a lot of upper class residence halls are spread all throughout campus.
Upperclass students also have the option of choosing theme housing.
We have different houses based around language, identity, affinity, and interest. Right next to the
Greenway Residence Halls we also have the athletic facilities. There are a number of facilities
indoors and outdoors that varsity teams as well as individual students can utilize. Amherst College
is a division three school and we are a member of the New England Small College Athletic Conference.
About 30 percent of Amherst College students are on varsity athletic teams like myself
but other students choose to get involved in intramural or club teams instead. Amherst College
is also located in a very beautiful part of New England. We have the farm on campus where students
work during the semester or during the summer and some of the food produced there actually goes into
Valentine dining hall. The Norwottuck Rail Rrail also runs through this area and students like to
bike, walk, or jog on that trail, and the outing club hosts different outdoors events every semester.
Even though Amherst College is located in a relatively rural area, we do have a really lively
downtown. There are a number of coffee shops and restaurants where you and your friends and family
can go for a quick bite or a sit-down meal, and if you're in the mood for more chain restaurants, or
you need to stop at a mall or a department store, the town of Hadley is a quick car or bus ride away.
As we near the end of the tour, I wanted to tell you why I chose to apply to Amherst.
Amherst's commitment to socioeconomic, ethnic, and international diversity
was immediately apparent from the moment I stepped onto campus, and I knew I wanted to
go to an institution where I could learn from people of different backgrounds and identities.
The care and attention Amherst professors give students is incredible, both inside and outside
of classrooms. The open curriculum at Amherst gives students the ability to explore as many
areas of interest as they would like, and it makes our classes academically stronger
because students choose to be in every class they take. When I visited Amherst, I got to sit
in on a class and the students around me shared their readings with me so I wouldn't be lost.
They helped me navigate around campus afterwards, and the professor even contacted me after the
class to make sure she answered any questions I had about the academic experience at Amherst.
I chose Amherst because I knew I wanted a small liberal arts college with rigorous academics, a
close-knit, warm community and the opportunity to interact extensively with professors. Thank you
for coming on a tour of Amherst's campus today. We hope you have a chance to visit us sometime soon.